Chapter 8

Under the surface of the Maine home, Rick found himself inside the converted bomb shelter, rummaging through his father’s storage lockers as Jamie stood behind, impatiently trying to piece together Rick’s recap of the evening.
"So the Ultimate man..." Jamie began.
"Yeah," Rick confirmed, pulling out a cape of his father’s and shaking the dust off.
"...the real life equivalent of Superman,"
"I suppose."
"He asked you for help."
"Yeah, he did."
"And you’re just- not going to acknowledge how big a DEAL that is," Jamie stated, folding his arms.
"Well, I think if I did, my head would probably explode," Rick quipped, draping the grey, heavy material cape over his shoulders. "Good God, this thing must weigh forty pounds."
"Maybe it’s bullet proof," Jamie suggested, poking the cape with his forefinger. "Hey, you know, I saw some 45 caliber guns in the far left locker awhile ago, want to-"
"No," Rick said shortly, pulling the cape over his right arm and its sling. "Okay, if I use some 2-sided tape, this should cover up my injury. No one will be able to tell the Ram has a disabled shoulder."
"Clever enough," Jamie agreed. "Though if you go out as the Ram at all, SOMEONE is going to want to kick your ass."
"Well, that’s where you come in, "Decibel," so long as you’re willing to get my back," Rick told him, walking over to a counter covered in aged tools and began rummaging through the drawers for some tape to use.
"Eh, the costumed character bit is your shtick, not mine," Jamie told Rick, his shoulders sagging. "Just the same, I guess I can’t just let you get your ass kicked. So all right, I’ll put on the armor again and tag along with you."
Rick found the tape and spun the roll around his finger. "All right, the agenda for tonight is to confirm everything Ultimate told me. It isn’t that I don’t trust him-"
"It’s that you don’t know him," Jamie finished for him.
Rick turned around, looking genuinely hurt. "Am I that predictable now?"
Jamie smirked at him. "What do you mean, NOW?"
"Hilarious," Rick said dryly, tossing the tape at Jamie before making his way to the weapons displayed on the far wall. "He has an agenda, and he’s not hiding that. But a man who’d slip me a tracking device is not one who’ll easily earn my trust."
"Especially since, well, you don’t trust anyone." Jamie told him.
"I trust you," Rick simply, scrutinizing a few devices upon the wall.
"I’m all a flutter," Jamie joked, walking up behind Rick. "You sure about taking on another case this soon after..." his voice trailed off.
"What happened between Ariel and I today... you’re right. I shouldn’t avoid dealing with it, and I won’t." Rick took hold of a device that was simply labeled "wicked yo-yo" and appeared to be exactly that. "But if there really are two children in this city in the kind of danger Ultimate described- I can’t ignore that. If I’m seriously going to be the Ram, I have to put myself aside for others." Rick fitted the clamp of the device around his left wrist and tested its weight. "It’s what Dad would have done."
"Well then," Jamie said, slapping a hand on Rick’s shoulder. "If that’s how you feel, then who needs sleep? Let’s get out there and knock some heads, or- I dunno, I’m not good with the one liners like you are."
"Right," Rick smirked, spinning the head of the device. "Let’s get to work."

Chapter 7

Rick sat there silently, drumming his fingers against the table.
"Okay."
"Do I even want to KNOW?"
The man sitting across from him looked at Rick very soberly, his hands clasped before him. "Yes, I really believe you do."
Rick leaned back in his seat, looking very visibly uncomfortable. "All right- you know, I go through this kind of weirdness on a regularity of about once a week. If you’ve got some kind of point to this, do me a favor and just cut to it."
Ultimate’s facial expression did not change as he mused. "You really are just like your father."
Rick grimaced, feeling frustration rise in the back of his throat. "Yeah, you know, I get that a lot."
"Your father was a good man," Ultimate continued. "I won’t bore you with the specific details, but I’m sure you were aware that he and I were often allies."
"Um... yeah, that... yeah that rings a bell," Rick told him, trying to remain composed.
I REALLY HAVE NO CLUE WHAT HE’S TALKING ABOUT
"I came here because I am aware that you have taken up your father’s mantel, and frankly, I need help. The sort of help only your father was ever able to give me," Ultimate explained to Rick.
"Oh, well, I can appreciate-" Rick narrowed his eyes at Ultimate, suddenly looking annoyed again. "How did you find me here?" Ultimate said nothing, and Rick came to the conclusion himself, pulling the card Ultimate gave him earlier out of his coat pocket. "A phone, eh?"
"I only said it was something like that," Ultimate told him. "I recognized you as Matthew’s son, and knew I’d need to contact you."
"Well, that’s all well and good-" Rick said, slapping the card on the table as he stood. "-but I think we’re done here. I don’t like being tricked."
Before Rick could walk away he felt a firm hand, like cold steel, take hold of his free forearm. "Maine... Ram, please. I won’t defend my methods. But believe me when I say that if I am not a man who chooses his allies lightly. I am here because I genuinely need your help- and if a man such as I needs your help, truly you can understand the level of the problem?"
Rick felt an odd mix of fear and anxiety well in his stomach, and he found himself sitting back down. "All right... I’ll hear you out."
Ultimate put his hands back on the table as if nothing had happened. "What happened to me earlier today was no random incident. I wasn’t simply attacked- I was drained."
"Drained?" Rick repeated.
"In a fraction of a second, I felt all of my strength leave my body," Ultimate explained to him. "This is not a completely foreign sensation for me; when you’ve been in this business as long as I have, your enemies find ways to handicap you. My team managed to get me back to base safely, and we discovered a surveillance camera captured a vague image of a man setting up equipment upon a rooftop that was well within range of where I was flying."
"You think this man is the one who... assaulted you?" Rick asked carefully.
"The tape wasn’t clear," Ultimate told him. "However, by running a cross report, we found the man in the image matched the description of another man who is a suspect in a kidnaping case, a kidnaping that occurred in Shinbone."
"But- wait, I don’t see how those two incidents relate," Rick told him. "What would motivate a kidnapper to... "drain you?"
"The kidnaped in question were two children- homeless children known only as Maria and Diego," Ultimate continued. "Before the vanished, they complained to a social worker about a man harassing them a regular basis to participate in medical experiments. As I said, I’ve been in this business a long time. I can tie together these two incidents."
Rick paused, looking thoughtful. "I need you to understand something- I am not in the best of health. I cannot participate in anything that requires me to, well, fight."
Ultimate nodded, "I understand, and you needn’t worry. I only ask for your consultation."
Rick stood again, but slowly. "Give me a day to get some things in order- I’ll do what I can."
Ultimate stood as well, shaking Rick’s free hand. "I’d expect nothing less from Matthew Maine’s son."

Chapter 6

Rick felt like he was going to throw up.
His head was spinning, his ears were ringing, and he just had the irresistible urge to wretch.
Jamie came over to Rick’s seat at the counter and handed him a tall, frosty glass of golden brew. "Here you go, man, first round." He then eyed Rick a bit oddly. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
Rick began tugging at his ears, irritated. "Jamie, you KNOW how I feel about country music."
Jamie laughed before throwing back nearly a third of his own glass. "Hey, all I was said what they didn’t card- I never promised you’d liked the joint."
"Hmm," Rick mused on that before he began to sip his beer. "You know... I never used to understand what the appeal of beer was. It tastes terrible. It takes at least six cans to even get tipsy... but now...." Rick began to drink it down more readily. "A cheap, horrible tasting drug seems just right."
"Look man..." Jamie started, motioning with his hand. "You got dumped. And that sucks. It’s gonna suck, and you’re probably not going to get over Ariel for a long, long time."
Rick paused, looking over at Jamie sympathetically. "Mary."
Jamie nodded, leaning back in his seat. "I always talk big, Rick, but when your sister broke up with me- well, it sucker punched me."
Rick looked down at his beer, unsure of what to really say. "It still doesn’t seem real." he finally remarked.
"And it won’t." Jamie told him. For awhile, you’re just not going to know what to think of it, how you’re supposed to feel. But one morning, you’re just going to get up, and you’ll feel it. It won’t feel good... but you’ll know."
Before Rick could respond, a waitress came by and placed a shot of vodka. "I... didn’t order this." Rick told her.
"You didn’t, but that man did, honey," the waitress told him, pointing across the room at a tall, well built man wearing reflective shades. "He said he figured you might like it."
Rick gave Jamie a look, Jamie could only respond with a shrug. Rick picked up the glass, thought it over, then stood up. "You know, I may as well be nice and take it back to him."
"This ought ta’ be entertaining..." Jamie mused as Rick walked over to the man’s table.
"I appreciate the gesture..." Rick told the man, setting the drinking on the table. "But... no thanks."
The man took hold of the side of his glasses, dipping them down below his eyes. His whites, pupils, and retinas were all encompassed with a glowing, bluish purple haze. "The gesture is not quite what you believe it to be."
Rick stood still, shocked, then narrowed his eyes before sitting down.
Jamie looked over at the waitress, his eyes suddenly very large. "Uh, I’m sure he’s just... uh..."
"Hoo-boy."
Rick almost glared at the man seated before. "The Ultimate Man."
The man sat back a bit, setting his sun glasses back upon his face. "And you- are Matthew Maine’s son."
"You’re the son of the Ram."

Chapter 5

Assistant Coach Moore was sitting in his office, doing the usual paper work that came with the end of the collegiate football season. He looked up at his wall, seeing a photo of the prior year’s team photo at the Rosebowl and shook his head sadly. "Just had to push our luck, didn’t you Coach?"
There was a soft tapping on his door, and Moore looked up from his desk again. "Yeah?" he called out a bit gruffly.
The door opened slowly with a light clicking sound, and a large, very built young man with the visage of a wolf stepped inside, slowly and uncertainly. "Co- Mr Moore? Can we talk?"
Moore’s face softened, and he sat back in his seat. "Sure, Bernstien. Take a seat."
Jerod sat down in the small chair in front of Moore’s desk, clasping his hands together. "What’s on your mind?" Moore asked.
"I need your help sir, I-" Jerod looked away for a moment, and his expression become sterner before looking back at Moore. "I need you to train me."
"Bernstien, son-" Moore held up his left palm. "I’m sorry for what happened to you. I’m especially sorry that I let the coach convince me to keep your blood tests a secret..." Moore sighed in frustration. "But all that said- the school’s decision was the right one, the one we should have made to begin with. It’s too dangerous for you to play football against people who are..."
"Only human?" Jerod finished for him. "I understand all that, sir. I’m not asking for you to train me as a football player." Jerod looked over at a pair of worn, red gloves. "I want you to teach me how to fight."
"Fight?" Moore found himself beginning to stand. "No- no that is NOT a good idea. I think you should go."
"Why? Jerod asked, narrowing his eyes at Moore. "Because my father is Atlas? Because I’m the son of a criminal?"
"Bernstien..."
"He beat and tortured my mother, sir." Jerod told Moore with a glint in his eyes. "He came on to this campus, and he killed Officer Dewey. He almost killed friends of mine. And I couldn’t stop him because I- didn’t know pain. I didn’t know how to counter it." Jerod bowed his head.
"He’ll be back for me, sir. He’ll be back- and people I care about may get hurt if I can’t stand up to him."
Moore looked down at this bulking, yet morose figure seated before him and heaved his aching shoulders, resigned. Jerod felt a firm hand on his shoulder and looked up to see Moore leaning down beside him. "I had a father who beat my mother, beat me on occasion, too. If I could’ve given him a few good jabs back in the day, I would’ve." Moore slapped Jerod’s shoulder and walked to the door. "I’ll give you a call when my schedule clears, son."
Jerod began to smile, but stopped, and simply gave Moore and appreciative nod.

Chapter 4

It was much later in the day, around five pm, and Rick was on the floor of his living room, piecing together a set of lego blocks into what vaguely- very vaguely, resembled the intersection where Ram met the Ultimate man. Sitting across from Rick on the floor was a healthy looking young man with a sloppy hair cut and rather thick glasses. The young man looked down at this set skeptically.
"Okay, Rod- pretend this is the Bronson Building here," Rick told him. Rick picked up a space man lego figure he’d given a plastic cape. "Now, Ultimate flew across the front windows of the building, when-" Rick demonstrated by throwing the small figure against the flimsy looking structure. "He’s hit by some invisible force."
Rod looked down at the now broken figurine, "So Ultimate hit a building and snapped in half?"
Rick gave him a stern look before continuing. "Okay, so this what we’ve got- an unseen hostile hit one of the most powerful men on earth with an unseen projectile and actually did him harm." Rick held up his forefinger. "But! Despite doing this- they don’t press their attack. Ultimate is able to call for his support people, and they take him away safely." Rick shrugged his shoulder, more to get his point across. "So what was the point? What was gained here?"
Rod blinked, genuinely taken aback. "You’re asking ME?"
Rick pushed the legos buildings aside and leaned forward. "Look Rod, what did I tell you the day I had you impersonate me as the Ram? You’re a part of this, now. And I need your help with this one."
"Oh, well, that’s cool I guess-" Rod rubbed the back of his neck and grinned nervously. "It’s just, you know, we haven’t really hung out in a month or so, I just figured you were giving me the brush off."
"I’ve been... busy is all." Rick answered uneasily.
OKAY, SO MAYBE I WAS HOPING FOR AWHILE HE’D JUST FORGET ABOUT EVERYTHING
"The thing is, Rod... I don’t know much of anything about superheroes. I’m not really in their world," Rick reached down and pieced the Ultimate man lego figure back together. "You seem to be something of a fanatic, someone who may understand how things work with them better than I do."
"Well..." Rod looked down, thoughtfully. "If it wasn’t obvious WHO attacked Ultimate, and you didn’t see the source of the attack... I don’t think it’d be a supervillain. I mean, a supracriminal." Rod corrected himself. "People like Dr Dimensia, or The Human Meteor, they want credit for the havoc they wreak. This was somebody who wanted to stay anonymous."
"But then why?" Rick asked, waving his free hand a bit. "Was their intent really to hurt Ultimate, kill him even, and they failed in that?"
"Okay," a familiar voice called out from the kitchen, both Rick and Rod looked over to see Jamie lazily leaning in the archway, holding a soda. "What in the hell is this?"
"We’re conferencing," Rod said with all the confidence he could muster.
Jamie looked down at the colorful, plastic block assortment. "Where?" he asked. "Legoland?"
Jamie sat himself down on the couch, throwing down a bit of the soda he held. "Don’t take it the wrong way, Rod, but make tracks for awhile. Ma and I need to talk."
"All right, cool," Rod put his hands in his pockets and shuffled off in a bit of a defeated manner.
Rick looked over at Jamie with a great deal of irritation. "Jamie, Rod and I were discussing something very serious."
"Oh yeah, cause- you know, it LOOKS serious." Jamie remarked, swinging his right leg out and kicking over the lego set.
"That wasn’t necessary," Rick remarked.
"Necessary nothing, man," Jamie put his elbows on his knees and looked at Rick intently. "What in the hell are you doing?"
"What am I doing? I’m looking into a potentially volatile situation- what happened today-"
"Ariel dumped you, man," Jamie told him flatly. "You know who I heard that from? The guy who borrowed my History notes three weeks ago and finally returned them today. Apparently, you were too busy creating a diorama from toys you haven’t played with in eight years to fill me in on that."
Rick looked down at the floor, his face becoming blank. "I... it... this came up, and-"
"And maybe you were really damn eager to bury yourself in something "The Ram" COULD deal with instead of something Rick Maine COULDN’T," Jamie told him without blinking.
Rick stared forward, and they were both silent for a very long stretch of time. Jamie then slowly stood up and set his soda can on the coffee table. He reached down and pulled Rick to his feet. "Come on, man. I know a place that doesn’t card people- let’s get some beers."
"Yeah," Rick said, suddenly feeling a lot less involved in the most recent event of the day. "Right now, I think I’d like that."